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Warren's TARP panel under scrutiny

Though Warren became a hero for her pursuit of transparency, she hasn't been forthcoming. |
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Congress gave the oversight panel a broad role in ensuring the Treasury Department was managing TARP funds appropriately. Passed by Congress in 2008, TARP didn’t require Warren’s oversight panel to provide a budget, nor did it limit the amount of money it could spend.

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The oversight panel ended up issuing 30 reports on the TARP program during its 27-month existence. Warren was criticized by some for using her position to publicly push her own views on the financial crisis and how government should react to such situations, although the oversight panel also won plaudits from many in the financial community and from liberals for its aggressive pursuit of banks.

Sullivan declined to say why Warren opposed greater transparency while serving on the committee. And Warren’s critics are still upset about the lack of accountability on how the oversight panel spent its funds.

“For an entity whose purpose was to disclose where government funds went through the bailout, it is very disturbing that they [the oversight panel] did not disclose how they spent the money, much less simple and basic things that I asked about in a hearing a few years ago, like making public a telephone number for citizen watchdogs to call in, to disclose some very basic things on the website, which they never did,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a member of the Financial Services Committee who pressed Warren on this issue repeatedly. “It showed more incompetence than anything else. But it raises concerns about how she led that government agency, especially one in terms of getting [the public] disclosure on TARP.”

From October 2008 to March 2011, the TARP oversight panel received nearly $10.5 million in taxpayer money from Congress, public records show. In its final public report issued in March, the panel broke down expenses into general categories, including $8.7 million for salaries and benefits, and $768,851 for printing costs. But line-by-line itemizations have not been released to the public or lawmakers.

During the period that roughly corresponded with Warren’s tenure on the committee, the panel spent about $8.3 million.

Nearly a year after the panel’s creation, Warren and two other Democrats in the group blocked efforts by the two Republican members – Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling and former New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu – who wanted to draft a budget and release transcripts from meetings to the public, sources familiar with the oversight panel internal operations said.

“From the very beginning, several panel members strongly recommended that a clear budget be established, and that it would be the right thing to make that public,” said one such source. “Warren had no interest in setting a budget, even as a target, no interest in disclosing even to members of the panel how much was being spent and no interest in disclosing even to members of the panel what the money was being spent on.”

"Warren declined to be interviewed for this story, and a spokesman for her Senate campaign insisted that the oversight panel had been transparent in its operations. However, late Wednesday night, the spokesman said Warren had reversed her position and now supports opening up all the committee records to public scrutiny."......................If the panel was so transparent in it's operations, why the need to reverse and open up the records? This is the type of lie this administration employs all the time. While obviously skirting the law and moral high ground, they claim they are the epitome of lawfulness and moral superiority. I think most of us are tired of such crap. None in this administration can walk a straight line.

Roach9307: " If Warren filed the required reports, what is the problem ?".................“For an entity whose purpose was to disclose where government funds went through the bailout, it is very disturbing that they [the oversight panel] did not disclose how they spent the money, much less simple and basic things that I asked about in a hearing a few years ago, like making public a telephone number for citizen watchdogs to call in, to disclose some very basic things on the website, which they never did,”

Went and looked! The Congressional Oversight Panel is not Warren's committee. It's a committee chaired by a Congressional Republican!

Warren has filed all the required paperwork. Why are you not asking the committe chair or, better yet, the Speaker for the figures. I realize that might require the Speaker to deliver something besides hot air. Therefore, there might be nothing forthcoming.

However, for these two reporters to imply that a consultant, who has filed all the government reqired forms into the public record, is doing something wrong really should result in their firng and an public apology from Politico.

JohninCT: " The Congressional Oversight Panel is not Warren's committee. It's a committee chaired by a Congressional Republican!"...................John, with all due respect, we are talking about the period of time before the GOP reclaimed the House. You remember - back when Nancy Pelosi, Queen of the Prurient, was running the show. If you maintain your position, you're going to look like a fool, but if so, by all means shout "Off with their heads!" at the top of your lungs.

Shalalee: "Is there a point here? What does the tuition at private schools have to do with anything?"...........Well, let's make one up. Maybe Warren was hiding money under a mattress at Harvard to buy a show dog raised in Prague by ex- KGB operatives who've moved into the lucrative pet business. Okay, maybe not, but the point is we don't know, now, do we?

Warren, who is seeking the Democratic Senate nomination in Massachusetts to take on Republican Scott Brown, has yet to break down exactly how her congressional panel spent the money on travel expenses, meals and consultants, nor has Warren revealed the total amount she was paid while serving as chairman.

TeamPOLITICO: Sep. 22, 2011 - 4:42 AM EST

The Congressional Oversight Panel, which existed for more than two years, has not yet disclosed any other staff salaries either even though the five-member panel was created and run by Congress, where nearly every staffer salary and office expense, from plane tickets to bottled water, is publicly available.

In fact, Warren opposed GOP efforts to draft a budget for the bipartisan oversight panel, despite telling The Associated Press in 2008 that she wouldn’t buy a winter coat without a spending plan.

Warren declined to be interviewed for this story, and a spokesman for her Senate campaign insisted that the oversight panel had been transparent in its operations.

Historically, when politicians exhibit these kinds of behavioral patterns, it has typically ended in revelations of fraud, waste, corruption and abuse and / or inexcusable junkets, cronyism, political payments and perks.

Elizabeth Warren as been sold as some sort mega-consumer advocate but her own institution, Harvard University, is gouging consumers at a rate higher than many of the institutions businesses she so passionately denounces and criticizes. In the Warren TARP committee case cited above, Warren, who barks for transparency and disclosure by others, turns into a clam when her own taxpayer-supplied spending and money-take is called out. Both points reveal a pattern. Do as I say, not as I do.

velvet steel: " And learn to read patterns of behavior.".............Man, that's profiling. Probably racist, too, but I can't be sure. Just because a guy is holding a gun on you and demanding money doesn't mean he's guilty of anything. He's a victim of poverty. You're the one with the money. You're the guilty one. Bet you didn't pay your fair share in taxes, either. What a scumbag. Just kiddin, but it's scary how close to the truth that crap is, isn't it?

No, you did not. You are attempting to deceive readers with stereotypical left liberal socialist disinformation.

Elizabeth Warren is or was an Obama "czar" whose Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an illegitimate arm of the Treasury Department. This bureau and her job position are more sleazy outcroppings of the Dodd-Frank bill which is causing serious harm to our already devastated American economy. In the past, both Dodd and Frank played major roles in causing our current economic crisis.

Obama appointed Warren as a czar so she can operate outside of our federal government, outside of congressional oversight and apparently outside of the law. This czar position does not come with accountability. Current structure Obama created is his czar, and solely his czar, can write and impose rules and regulations upon financial institutions such as banks and lenders. In essence, Elizabeth Warren is or was a dictator operating outside of our legal system and outside of our government.

Controversy is Warren demanded government transparency and she now refuses to provide transparency of her own while heading up the Congressional Oversight Panel. There is evidence of wrongdoing by Warren while dictator-czar of the CFPB such as setting salaries 60% to 90% higher than comparative salaries in our federal government. This is suggestive of graft and corruption.

Bottom line is Warren is refusing to be held accountable to our American peoples just as Barack Obama is refusing to be accountable to our American peoples. Warren is a Harvard law professor. Obama is a Harvard law professor. Both display stereotypical elitist arrogance which is endemic to Harvard, Yale, Princeton and other ruling class universities. This offensive arrogance is well exemplified by Harvard's Henry Gates screaming at the Cambridge police, "Do you know who I am!"

This, of course, prompted Barack Obama to instantly and publicly label the Cambridge police as, "racists". This led to a presidential beer summit which set circumstances allowing both Obama and Gates to further denigrate the mixed race Cambridge Police Department.

"Do you know who I am!"

Nope, don't know and don't care, you are an arrogant jerk.

Massachusetts voters would be smart to boot would be senator Warren's backside clean over the moon in coming elections. There is a problem; Massachusetts is home to ruling class elitist Harvard University. Do you know who I am!

Elizabeth Warren is what happens when well-intentioned Affirmative Action programs are not properly monitored and audited on a regular basis. Sleaze and rot can seep through along with a heavy dose of Socialism oozing out of every government pore. Goodness, when will these liberal left-wing institutions learn?